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 The college football season kicksoff 13 weeks from tonight—still farenough away that fans believe thisyear will be different for their team.And at 10 schools in particular,the optimism comes with support.
Sporting News Today 
collegefootball writers Dave Curtis andMatt Hayes list their picks for 2009’smost improved teams:
The big three
With the NBA draft only threeweeks away, a look at the top threepicks in Sean Deveney’s latestmock draft:1.L.A. Clippers,Blake Griffin, PF,Oklahoma2.Memphis,Ricky Rubio, PG,Spain3.Oklahoma City,Hasheem Thabeet, C,Connecticut
NBA DRAFT
GAME 1:
ORLANDO AT L.A. LAKERS 9 ET TONIGHT, ABC
 
NBA FINALS 
 Complete mock draft,
Page 6
 Collison Q&A,
Page 6
 Malkin maturing,
Page 12
 Teams on the rise,
Page 29
DETROIT AT PITTSBURGH
8 ET tonight, Versus
Jump on thesebandwagons
STANLEY CUP FINALS 
 THURSDAYJUNE 4, 2009SEE A DIFFERENT GAMEVOLUME 1 ISSUE 317
Scoreboard
Baseball
American League
Boston 10, Detroit 5Texas 4, N.Y. Yankees 2L.A. Angels 8, Toronto 1Tampa Bay 9, Kansas City 0Cleveland 10, Minnesota 1Oakland 5, Chicago White Sox 3Seattle 3, Baltimore 2
National League
N.Y. Mets at Pittsburgh, ppd., rainSan Francisco at Washington, ppd., rainChicago Cubs 3, Atlanta 2, 11 inningsMilwaukee 9, Florida 6Houston 6, Colorado 4Cincinnati 9, St. Louis 3Philadelphia 5, San Diego 1L.A. Dodgers 1, Arizona 0
Soccer
World Cup qualifier
Costa Rica 3, United States 1
 
MLB>15 NFL>25 NBA>7 NHL>12 NASCAR>32 COLLEGE FOOTBALL>29 COLLEGE BASKETBALL>30 NBA DRAFT>6
QUICK LINKS:
DAVIDZALUBOWSKI/AP
Curtis:
1.Washington.
For starters, theHuskies can’t get any worseafter an 0-12 catastrophe in2008. New coach Steve Sarkisianhas a healthy QB Jake Lockerto transform the offense fromembarrassing to respectable.
2.Arkansas3.Illinois4.Auburn5.Southern Miss
Hayes:
1.UCLA.
A lack of healthy (andeffective) quarterbacks doomedthe Bruins in 2008. Count onredshirt freshman Kevin Princeerasing those nightmares foroffensive gurus Rick Neuheiseland Norm Chow.
2.SMU3.Colorado4.Oklahoma State5.N.C. State
Talking Cowboys
What does America’s Team need to return todominance? “A foot up theirbutts,” says one Cowboyslegend. Jerry Jones to notplay G.M., says another. Hallof Famers Tony Dorsettand Rayfield Wright sharemore Cowboy concernswith
SN Today 
,
Page 25
All wet
 Johnson’s try at 300washed away, willtry again today
 Page 18
School pass
BY SEAN DEVENEY
 sdeveney@sportingnews.com
College? Who needs college?One thing about this year’s NBAFinals: The top players aren’t heavyon NCAA experience. In fact, one of the best players in this series saysThe Finals are evidence that theleague should change the rule pro-hibiting players from jumping to theNBA from high school.“I think it’s most definitely unfair,”Magic forward Rashard Lewis told
SN Today
. “If a guy has the chance to com-pete against NBA players, they shouldgo ahead and let him compete.”Lewis has seen that throughoutthe playoffs. “Playing against LeBron James in the Eastern Conferencefinals, the guy that averaged 40points on us,” Lewis said. “... TheMVP of the entire league didn’t go tocollege.”Neither did most of the 10 bestplayers in The Finals. Have a look:
1.
Kobe Bryant
. Was just 17 whenhe started his NBA career,which has been rather fruitful inLos Angeles.
2.
Dwight Howard.
Says Hall of Fame center Nate Thurmond:“There’s no question, he’s the nextgreat one at his position.”
3.
Pau Gasol.
Came over to theNBA from Spain and nowfigures to be the key to a Lakerschampionship.
4.
Rashard Lewis.
Hard to believethat he fell to the second roundout of high school when he wasdrafted in 1998.
5.
Hedo Turkoglu.
He’s 6-10 andpossesses a deft shooting touchas well as keen passing ability.
6.
Lamar Odom.
First guy on this listto have been to college.
7.
Andrew Bynum.
Came out of highschool in 2005 at age 17.
8.
Trevor Ariza.
He was slammedfor leaving UCLA after oneyear, but he’s made good.
9.
Mickael Pietrus.
A lottery pick outof France in 2003, he has becomean important defensive stopper.
10.
Courtney Lee.
Finally, a playerwho stayed four years incollege. Lee was the 22nd pick lastyear. “Being a senior hurt me in thedraft,” Lee said. “Teams don’t seem tolike players who stay in college.”
CHRISO’MEARA/APCHRISCARLSON/AP
Nate Thurmond calls Dwight Howard, above,the next great center.Kobe Bryant was passed over by 12 teams inthe ‘96 draft before Charlotte picked him.
Finals prove players don’tneed college on their resume
 Deveney picks Lakers in 7,
Page 7
 
SPORTING NEWS TODAY
 www.sportingnews.com
 THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009
2
See a Different Game
Tune In Today
Buck’s wit gets starring role in new HBO show
GUIDE
GOLF
10 a.m.TGC—
EuropeanPGA Tour, WalesOpen, first round, atNewport, Wales
1 p.m.TGC—
Nationwide Tour, PrinceGeorge’s CountyOpen, first round, atMitchellville, Md.
3 p.m.TGC—
PGA Tour, The Memorial Tournament, firstround, at Dublin,Ohio
MAJOR LEAGUELACROSSE
9:30 p.m.ESPN2—
 Torontoat Washington(same-day tape)
NBA BASKETBALL
9 p.m.ABC—
Playoffs,finals, Game 1,Orlando at L.A.Lakers
NHL HOCKEY
8 p.m.VERSUS—
Playoffs,Stanley Cup finals,Game 4, Detroit atPittsburgh
SOCCER
7:30 p.m.ESPN2—
MLS, NewYork at D.C. United
TENNIS
8 a.m.ESPN2—
FrenchOpen, women’ssemifinals, at Paris
BASKETBALL
Magic at Lakers
9 p.m., ABC
Network execs get their Kobe-LeBron matchup … in commercial breaks, whenthe pair’s “Most Valuable Puppet” ads run. On the court, the Magic are, again, theunderdog against a team they dominated in the regular season. Dwight Howardand the gang won both games they played against the Lakers in 2008-09 andaveraged 107.5 points in the process. That may not seem like much, but the Magichad similar success against Cleveland and found a way to translate the regularseason to the postseason.
HOCKEY
Red Wings at Penguins
8 p.m., Versus
“This series is where it should be,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said after thePenguins’ 4-2 win in Game 3. He’d know—so far, the finals have followed the sametemplate as last year, when Detroit dropped Game 3 but went on to win the Cup insix games. Tonight is a chance for the Penguins to build their momentum at home,send the series back to Detroit 2-2. Detroit, meanwhile, hopes to have MVP finalistPavel Datsyuk back in the lineup after he missed the first three games.
GOLF
The Memorial Tournament
1 p.m., The Golf Channel
 Tiger Woods has won Jack Nicklaus’ tournament at Muirfield Village three times. That’snot surprising. The other three-time champ in the field, though, is someone you may notexpect—Kenny Perry. The 48-year-old, 15-time Tour winner took home first place in 1991,2003 and last year. On Wednesday, the battle for a fourth win kicked off early—Woodsburned Perry on the final hole of the Skins Game with a 12-foot putt.
— Compiled by Sean Gentille
BY JOHN OURAND
SportsBusiness Journal 
Viewers accustomed to
Costas Now
on HBOprobably won’t recognize its replacement,
 Joe Buck Live
, when it launches June 15.In fact, viewers also probably will find it diffi-cult to recognize the show’s host, Joe Buck, bestknown as Fox’s top play-by-play man on MajorLeague Baseball and the NFL. That’s becauseBuck will step out of character for a show thatwill be equal parts comedy and interviews.“The hidden secret of Joe Buck, for those of uswho have been around him and seen him per-form at the Sports Emmys every year, is that hehas a very dry and unique wit,” HBO Sportspresident Ross Greenburg said. “That is some-thing that the American public hasn’t seen yet.They’ll be surprised and amused.”The one-hour show, taping four times a year,will be heavy on comedy. HBO has hired twowriters and already shot some skits for its firsteffort.Buck’s sense of humor first attracted Greenburgto giving him a shot to replace Bob Costas, whogave up his critically acclaimed HBO show for anon-air role at MLB Network. To help draw out thatwit, Greenburg has hired Peter Mehlman, whowas executive producer of 
Seinfeld 
, and Jon Glaser,the creator and star of 
 Delocated 
, a live-action com-edy on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.“I’m not always going to lean toward thefunny,” Buck said. “But I think I can at timesentertain and at times amuse. I’m not going toshy away from that. My No. 1 priority is going to be, ‘How good was the interview and what didwe learn from it?’ ”Filming live in front of a studio audience sprin-kled with celebrities, HBO plans to showcaseBuck by having him interact with the audience.Like
Costas Now
, each of Buck’s shows will have atheme. The first looks at the intersection of celeb-rity and sports, which will lead to several come-dic bits.The first show will include a skit with WillFerrell’s “Funny or Die” web site that will run before a panel discussion. The skit will go behindthe scenes at HBO sister company TMZ topresent a mock version of how the gossip sitedevelops its sports-related stories.“It will be tongue-in-cheek, with cameosfrom athletes mocking the entire way itunfolds,” Greenburg said. “It’s hard todescribe, but it adds a lot of humor. Thencoming out of that piece, we’re going to tryand line up some real comedic talent.”The first show will conclude with ataped package called “I Refuse to Hyper-ventilate” that will be Buck’s unique take oncertain sports stories.The show also will be heavy on inter-views, with HBO hoping tomake headlines from someof the answers Buck elicitsfrom guests.Three weeks beforelaunch, producers werefinalizing the debut show’sguest lineup.Buck said his wish listincludes athletes, such asBrett Favre and Alex Rodri-guez, league executivessuch as Roger Goodell andBud Selig, and actors suchas Alec Baldwin and SethRogen.Buck said he doesn’tpattern his interviewingstyle after anyone in par-ticular, but he admiresthe way David Lettermanconducts interviews.“He’s the best becausehe actually listens,” Bucksaid. “He’s not worriedabout one-upping what yousay. He wants you to tell yourstory.“That’s the kind of feel I want toget. I don’t want to act like I’mMorley Safer. But I’m not goinginto it as Carrot Top. I’m some-where in the middle there.”
— John Ourand writes for SportsBusiness Journal.E-mail him at jourand@sportsbusinessjournal.com
ADRIANOFAGUNDES/HBO
 Joe Buck Live,
premiering June 15 on HBO,
 
willinclude sports-centriccomedy sketches andinterviews.
A quick look at the bestsports on TV
— all times Eastern
 
Terrell Owens
’ search for a place to live in theBuffalo area hit an apparent snag.Late Tuesday night, the Bills receiver posteda message on his
Twitter.com
 site which readthat he’s “tripping about residents” who won’trent a home to him in Orchard Park becausethey “(don’t) want any drama n their neigh- borhood!! LOL!!! Wow!!.”The place in question is a six-bedroomhome at 1 Deer Run in Orchard Park that listsfor $489,397. It’s also available for rent.Real estate agent
Bob Wozniak
disputedOwens’ complaint. Wozniak said Owens hasyet to tour the home and said his clients aremore than happy for the receiver to do so.
SNY employee isolated
A SportsNet New York employee’s flu-likesymptoms has prompted concerns about theswine flu in a Mets clubhouse that has seentwo players with the stomach virus in thepast several days, the Newark
Star-Ledger 
reported. The Mets wouldn’t identify theSNY employee, but a
Star-Ledger 
source closeto the situation said it is a member of thenetwork’s technical staff. The employee has been isolated from the team and is beingtested for the H1N1 virus.
Quick hits
Cardinals manager
Tony LaRussa
sued Twit-ter, claiming he had “suffered significantemotional distress (and) damage to reputa-tion” because of a fake page established underhis name at the website. He is suing for trade-mark infringement, trademark dilution andmisappropriation of name and likeness.
Tony Dungy
and
Rodney Harrison
are joiningNBC’s Sunday night NFL studio show. Har-rison retired from the NFL Wednesday.Converse, collaborating with AC/DC andMetallica, will launch a collection of rockmusic-themed versions of its iconic ChuckTaylor All Star shoes
 , SportsBusinessJournal 
reported. The shoes will be available at spe-cialty retailers, department stores andCon-verse.comfor retail for $50-80.
— SportsBusiness Daily, sportsbusinessdaily.com
SPORTING NEWS TODAY
 www.sportingnews.com
 THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009
3
My Profile
Bernard Berrian
Vikings wide receiver
(What you won’t find on Facebook … even if you are approved as a friend)
Born:
Dec. 27, 1980, atSpain’s Torrejon Air ForceBase (outside of Madrid)
Status:
Single
Alma mater:
Fresno State
What’s on TV:
 Martin
,
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 
,
 24
,
 Heroes
,
Weeds
,
 Dexter 
,
 1st and 10
,
 Pardonthe Interruption
What’s in my iPod:
Pretty muchanything—from Bob Marley toMGMT to Tupac
What I drive:
A GMC Denali, butI’m in the process of purchasingnew Audi R8.
Favorite flicks:
The Exorcist 
,
 Hal-loween
,
 Friday the 13th
,
The Last  Dragon
,
 Memoirs of a Geisha
,every
 Friday
movie,
 Harlem Nights
,
Coming to America
,
 Men-ace II Society
,
 Boyz n the Hood 
What I’m reading:
The Bible
Magazine subscriptions:
GQ,Ebony
Worst habit:
Planning trips atthe last minute
On my office walls:
There is noth-ing up on my walls but paint! I’min the process of designing myhome office.
Love to trade places for a day with…
Barack Obama. I would loveto witness first-hand the chal-lenges that come with being thefirst president of color.
First job:
Age 24, when I wasdrafted to the Chicago Bears
Talent I’d most like to have:
I thinkit’s a tie. I’d love to write musicand I’ve always wanted to drawwell.
Favorite meal:
My momma’sokra and gumbo. I LOVE FOOD,and I’ll eat just about anything. Ionce put down a 32-oz. steak,and then ordered dessert … andate it … all.
Favorite athlete to watch in anothersport:
Michael Jordan
Favorite city to visit:
Viva LasVegas. I fall in love every time Igo.
Favorite teams as a kid:
The Chi-cago Bulls and the SF 49ers
Favorite values in others:
Honesty,humility, sense of humor, senseof humor, sense of humor, family bearing, spiritual, charismatic
Dream date:
Any woman thatcan make me fall in love at firstsight
My greatest love:
My family, mydaughter and The Lord andsavior
My heroes:
Father and Mother
My bucket list:
Travel to as manyhistorical locations as possible
My motto:
Never look back!!
— Jeff D’Alessio
OFF THE FIELD
LOL: T.O. says residents don’t want him in building
Terrell Owens has his eye on a six-bedroom home in Orchard Park, N.Y., that lists for nearly $500,000.
DAVIDDUPREY/APANDYKING/AP
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